McMenamins is having a cider week in Oregon in the middle of ice and snow apocalypse. It’s not that bad actually. I have seen much worse. Just keep in mind, this too shall pass.
Come check it out if you are anywhere close. If not, stay at home under the blanket drinking hot tea. This is what I’m doing today.
They also offer food and tea of great variety and quality. We saw a few other people drinking / eating out. Makes you feel like there are people out there, good feeling to be honest.
During this snow/ice weather conditions we are lucky to be within walking distance from the stores and cool cafes. The ones that are not closed on MLK day, I still have a dream…
We still have Christmas tree up celebrating January cold and snow this winter season. How are you feeling about the weather? What are you guys up to? Any projects / fun activities planned this week?
Today after work I wanted to go buy a Bluetooth speaker for class, my students took me out to the mall and helped me choose the one. It was really great because we had some fancy drinks and ate in Gold Pigeon cafe, which was very nice and girly. What they ordered was very unusual for me and usual for them, they got a pigeon, some shrimp and fish cakes, I think. Everything was very simple and flavorful, I ordered something with green veggies, we ate family style of course. They served us fungi soup at the beginning, it was not my kind of soup, I wish I didn’t know the name… At the end we got a tiny passion fruit dessert which I think was perfect split three ways.
The service was very nice, the place was cute and cosy with a view to the lake. The day was nice. We walked around the lake at the sunset before going straight to the campus. I forgot to mention that before we got to the electronics store, I saw that place where you buy tokens to try and get a plush toy from the tank with a giant claw. I swear to God, I have never done this before, this time I got a nice gift and a lot of fun trying to fish it out of the tank.
If you know me, you would go, nooooooooo, you would never do that. But I did, and was lucky too. It’s like playing a lottery for the first time and winning. I’m so glad they took me out because otherwise I wouldn’t have known any of these places can be so much fun! Anyway, I want us to go out for karaoke in the same company because I want to experience it like never before. I enjoy singing and I like watching others sing. Life is just so much more diverse than we have known or hoped for. I didn’t know I will be teaching English in China having all these adventures. If only we could think outside of the box a bit more often.
These machines don’t work well. I don’t even know how I got my toy. They grab it and then shake to let it fall every single time.
I got home very happy, inspired and refreshed. My Bluetooth speaker works well, it speaks to me in Chinese I’m not sure why… Maybe it’s trying to teach me a lesson.
After two weeks of fine dining, I finally made an executive decision to make my own salad. This is a life changing realization for a lazy foreigner in a cheap country where they feed you every day as if it was your last day. I love Chinese food, don’t get me wrong but I felt like the old joke that my father in law loves so much, Oh, rice again! I couldn’t handle fine dining any more, and may think, Oh well, cry me a river! But the struggle is real, I came to the conclusion: if I don’t do something about the food I eat, no one else will. I would like to use it as my new motto.
Change it if you can, put up with it if it’s outside of your control. I had a headache so I told myself, Vitamin I to the rescue! ( I = Ibuprofen ) I was getting sick and didn’t know it. I was hot so I said to myself, you can wear shorts, no one will care. So I did. Because I was coming down with a virus. So proud of myself! Even if none of these worked because I got this virus that was brought here from the US by my coworker, it made me feel better since I took action. I am better now, still recovering.
Are you feeling lonely? Call a friend. Need help? Ask for it. I mean life is too short to eat green bananas. Are you feeling unwell? Go see a doctor. Don’t wait for the miracle to happen. Make it happen! Be your best friend, be your own savior.
Making a salad was great even if the yoghurt was sweet and pepper was hot. Taking responsibility is what really matters. I know that some of you have taken too much yet others need to man up and cross the Rubicon. Be in charge of your own happiness even if it means you have to go an extra mile. You are your best companion, don’t give up on yourself! Because if you do, you might end up having rice gruel for breakfast when you could have kimchi instead.
this was my morning meal. so now I will take responsibility for having better options to start my day. Are you with me?
This morning I woke around 5 am, had my dragon fruit for breakfast and decided to get ready for the first week of teaching. I had to open all the emails to reread the course description, putting all the pieces of puzzle together. It was kind of refreshing to jot down all the main points on a sheet of paper, in our digital age we are so out of practice , I need to do it more often, my handwriting still looks good though.
After quality prep time I had my morning tea before going to the teaching building. It’s like a 30 minute walk from the faculty apartment building. I got dressed and started walking with my coworkers who was as lost as me. We didn’t know where exactly we were supposed to go, thank God, google maps took us there. In this hot and humid weather it felt like a hike in the mountains. We both dressed up to make a first impression on our students who started arriving on campus today.
Luckily we made it to the teaching building, saw the program director and a bunch of students all smiling and happy to see us. I honestly don’t remember such friendly people I had to teach, I’m pretty sure I had them at some point in my life. They ordered lunch for us and came to chat about all the details of the course and the weekend plans . I have never been babysat by my students before, what I mean by this is they want to show us the city and feed us like kings.
Today we got the tshirts with the school logo, and they were high end tshirts of course, yet way too hot for the weather. We found out that all our rooms have AC and saw the teacher lounge that they newly remodeled for this school year. I know my room number and the name of my class, which is just a number because we all are going to teach English as a second language here. Half of the students are in Telecommunication Engineering, and the rest of them are in Electronics Science and Technology.
Although I have been teaching for many years, it feels like my first time in education, 30 people in one class is something I don’t usually get. Students seem to be fairly excited to leave high school behind and start college a month earlier. We will see how it goes but for now wish me luck!
Why I quit my job 